Where Does GNOME Terminal Store Profiles?
GNOME Terminal keeps profiles in the dconf database, not text files. How profiles store and how to back them up.
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GNOME Terminal stores profiles in dconf rather than flat files. Colors, fonts, scrollback and keybindings live as database keys. The Preferences window edits those keys.
That surprises file based backup routines. Home directory copies skip the database. A dconf dump captures profiles as portable text while a reset means clearing the Terminal path in dconf.
Where GNOME Terminal stores this, by platform
~/.config/dconf/user (keys under /org/gnome/terminal/)
Profiles, colors and keybindings as dconf keys rather than files. Back up with dconf dump of the Terminal path. The raw database file itself should not be copied while sessions run.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up GNOME Terminal profiles?
Run dconf dump /org/gnome/terminal/ to a file with Terminal quit. That text holds every profile with colors, fonts and scrollback limits. Restore with dconf load on the new machine. Copying home config folders alone misses profiles entirely.
Where is the profile file?
In the dconf database under the Terminal path, edited through Preferences or dconf Editor. Text files under config only cover a fraction of behavior. Treat dconf as the source of truth for profiles.
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